


Stop Awhile With You

by GlassRose



Series: Fluffy Avengers [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Clint Barton Sings, Clint is a big dork, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 11:12:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlassRose/pseuds/GlassRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by Steve singing the Ink Spots to Bucky, Clint embarks on a quest to find the perfect song to serenade Natasha.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stop Awhile With You

**Author's Note:**

> Playlist: Lullaby by Billy Joel  
> Sweet Loretta by Angie Aparo  
> No Matter What by Badfinger  
> You’re Beautiful by James Blunt  
> There She Goes by the La's  
> Rosanna by Toto  
> Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's  
> I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston  
> Annie's Song by John Denver  
> My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion  
> Mysterious Ways by U2  
> Killer Queen by Queen  
> She’s a Lady by Tom Jones  
> Hopelessly Devoted To Youfrom Grease  
> Bad Case of Loving You by Robert Palmer  
> Madrigal by Rush  
> The playlist for all of these tracks (except Sweet Loretta) can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkZ0330oOALmUoCExaQ8Uk7FZIZwIS0hU
> 
> I do not own the characters but as the author of the story I do not want this posted anywhere else without my explicit permission.

Natasha Romanoff yawned and poked at a slowly forming bruise on her forearm. It had seemed like a small job when Coulson asked her to do it, but apparently the intel was guarded by tougher mercenaries than expected. It would have been nice to have had Clint at her back, but whatever. The job was done, Nat was alive, and now she was going to collapse on the couch and order Chinese takeout.

Her plans were foiled, however, by Hawkeye, who was sitting in the middle of the couch, spread out as much as he could be. "Hey, babe."

She sighed heavily and sank down next to him. His stupidly enormous arms wrapped around her as he planted a kiss on her cheek. "Hi," she yawned. "Your hair is purple."

"I dyed it at the slumber party two nights ago, remember? Or maybe you don't; you were pretty hammered. You look lovely, by the way," he said, nuzzling her jaw.

"Oh shut up."

"I made dinner."

"Bring it here; I'm not moving."

"For you, anything." Clint kissed her cheek again and stood up. They ate the chicken and potatoes dinner without event. Clint attempted to make conversation, but Nat mostly contributed weary smiles. Once he'd cleared the dishes and washed them, he sat down on the arm of the sofa, as Natasha had appropriated the rest of it for sleeping purposes. "I was trying to be romantic, but you don't seem to be in the mood," he said.

"I'm beat," she said. "Maybe in the morning."

"Not like that," he said, sniffing. "Just trying to be actual for real romantic. No ulterior motives."

"Sex isn't even an ulterior motive with you," she said, yawning. "Romance me all you want, but I might not be awake."

Clint hopped off the couch arm and knelt down next to her. He kissed her forehead and sang. 

_"Good night my angel, time to close your eyes_  
_And save these questions for another day_  
_I think I know what you've been asking me_  
_I think you know what I've been trying to say._  
_I promised I would—"_

Natasha opened her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Um, singing?"

"Yeah, I got that."

"Steve made it look romantic," Clint muttered, turning red.

"What made you pick that song?"

"Uh…you're trying to sleep, and it's called Lullaby, and I like Billy Joel, and I sound good when I sing Billy Joel."

"I'm not arguing with any of that, but you do know that song is like, to a daughter, right?"

"It—" Clint ran through the lyrics in his head quickly. "Shit. That isn't very romantic, is it?"

"Nope. You'll have to try something else." Natasha rolled over and fell asleep, leaving Clint to consider his next move.

 

Clint woke Natasha up the next morning by perching on the back of the couch and singing.  
_"She only dreams in black and white_  
_She just can't seem to turn the colors on_  
_Even if everything's all right_  
_She pretends like she doesn't know_  
_And I pretend like it doesn't show_

_Come on, come on, sweet, sweet Natasha_  
_Come on—"_

"Clint. No."

He pouted. "Aw, but—"

"Stop that."

"I will think of a good song. You just wait."

"I'm waiting, all right." Natasha stretched and tugged him down onto the couch. "Breakfast?"

"I believe you had a suggestion for this morning?"

"Ah, yes, I did."

 

Natasha pulled her hair back and kicked a couple times to loosen up. "Ready?"

Bucky smirked. "Are you?"

She threw a punch, which he dodged easily, and feinted to the right. When he followed her on instinct, she danced around to vault onto his back and hook an arm around his neck. Before either of them could move further, however, they were interrupted by Clint, belting, " _No matter what you are, I will always be with you. 'Cause no matter what you do, girl, ooh girl_ —Oomph!" Nat and Bucky dove on him, knocking all the air out of his lungs.

 

Evening was peaceful, due to Tony being out on a date with Pepper. After dinner, Natasha planted herself in the lounge's squashiest armchair and worked on a sampler. The only person in the world who could sneak up on her made her jump when his voice crooned next to her ear, " _My life is brilliant_ —"

"Clint Barton, if you value your life you will _not_ sing James Blunt to me."

Clint swallowed. "Yes, ma'am."

"I would appreciate you, old lad," Fandral called from across the room. "Some significant others never sing to me." He coughed pointedly. The black cat with green eyes in Fandral's lap looked at him balefully before yowling horribly. "Darling, don't be like that. I know you have a lovely voice but you don't sing to me." Loki stood up, yawned, and stalked out of the lounge. "Sweetheart!" Fandral called, chasing him into the elevator.

 

As Clint left the Tower the next day to pop down to the local coffee shop, he passed Natasha coming back from a morning run. " _There she goes, there she goes again._ "

"Got that right," she retorted.

 

Over a game of Monopoly that ended when the Hulk smashed all the hotels and game pieces because "This game is stupid and supports a toxic economic system and encourages unhealthy competition and it's FUCKING ENDLESS! RAHHHH!" Clint thought of a better option. " _All I want to do when I wake up in the morning is see your light_ ," he sang. " _Natasha, Natasha, I never thought that a girl like you would ever care for me, Natasha._ "

"Is that…is that a Toto song?" Darcy asked. "I thought it was Rosanna."

"It is Rosanna. It's going to continue to be Rosanna," Natasha said firmly.

"Damn it." Clint wasn't giving up yet, though.

 

Coulson asked Clint to do a minor recon mission the next morning. It turned out to be nothing, which was a bummer for an agent looking for something to do and a huge relief to a director of a spy agency trying to make sure all of HYDRA was rooted out. On the way home, Clint made a phone call.

"Hey, what's up?"

" _Hey there, Natasha,_ " Clint began, " _what's it like in New York City? I'm a hundred miles away but girl, tonight, you_ —"

She hung up.

 

He burst in the apartment door, nearly shouting, " _Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ee-iiiiiiiiiii will always love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!_ "

Thor, Tony, Steve, Bucky, Bruce, Darcy, Sif, Jane, Fandral, Skye, Trip, and Loki all stopped their game of Apples to Apples to stare at him. Clint turned crimson. "What are you all doing in my apartment?"

"I invited them over, sweetie," Natasha said from behind him. "By the way, no."

"That was supposed to be your ears only," he mumbled.

"You court your warrior by screeching at her?" Sif asked. "Is that typical, Darcy?"

Darcy waggled her eyebrows. "You can just bring me chocolate."

Loki rolled his eyes. Fandral slung an arm around him.

 

"Why are you on this singing kick?" Natasha asked, pulling the covers over them. "Don't get me wrong, you have a sweet voice, I'm just wondering why you're so determined to find a song I'll let you sing to me."

Clint curled around her. "Just, it seems nice. Our lives are so violent, I mean, I don't even know if we'll come home from missions, and I just, when I was a kid, like seventeen or so, I dreamed of candlelit dinners with a partner, and matching tattoos, and singing duets, and dumb shit like that. Guess I got jealous of the World War II boys and their dancing and stuff."

"You don't have to measure up to anyone else. _We_ don't have to."

"I know. I want to. They reminded me."

Natasha sighed, pressing into his body. "All right, well, keep trying then."

Clint smiled. " _You fill up my senses, like a night in a forest, like the mountains in spring_ —"

"No."

"Damn it. Okay, _Near, far, wherEVer you are_ —"

"Barton, I will suffocate you with this pillow."

"Good night, Nat."

"Night, Clint."

 

Some mornings, when she was in the right mood, Natasha would go to the gym and practice ballet. This morning Clint sneaked in to watch her, singing, " _It's all right, it's all right, it's all right, she moves in mysterious ways._ " Natasha threw a slipper at him.

 

She punched a sandbag. He sang, " _She's a killer queen, gunpowder, gelatine, dynamite with a laser beam_ —"

"That is accurate but not remotely romantic!"

" _She's a lady, whoa whoa whoa, she's a lady_ —"

"HAVE YOU EVEN LISTENED TO THE WORDS TO THAT SONG, BARTON, I WILL END YOU!"

He sneaked out.

 

Movie night was the _Back to the Future_ trilogy, because, as Darcy put it, "Our elderly babes haven't seen it yet!" The "elderly babes"—the four Asgardians, Steve, and Bucky—shrugged and agreed that that was as good a reason as any, although Tony said, "You haven't jumped off a cliff yet, do you want to do that?" Steve immediately put an arm around Bucky, who glared coldly at Tony until he realized what he had said. "Fine, fine, _Back to the Future_ it is."

A black panther was taking up most of the couch until Natasha persuaded her to shove over, so Fandral ended up with a lapful of housecat-shaped Loki. Clint pulled Nat onto his lap, and as the credits for the first movie rolled, he sang, " _I'm hopelessly devoted to you, but now there's_ —"

"Grease, Clint?" she whispered. "Really?"

 

The rec room on the 30th floor was usually empty in the early afternoon, so when Clint picked Nat up and kissed her, carrying her into the room singing, " _Doctor, Doctor, give me the news, I've got a bad case of loving you_ ," he was surprised to see Darcy and Sif making out fiercely. The two women had apparently expected the room to be free as well and turned to stare at Clint and Natasha, Darcy's hand shoved under Sif's top and red lip-prints peppering the warrior's neck. There was a silent pause until Darcy finally coughed and glared pointedly at the intruders. Clint ran back to the elevator with a laughing Natasha in his arms. As the door closed, they heard Sif say, "There was no need to stop, Darcy. We were here first, after all."

 

Natasha Romanoff yawned as she leaned against the elevator wall. It had been a long and boring-ass day full of debriefings on old news and explanations of new protocol for an organization she wasn't entirely certain she wanted to rejoin. She had managed to avoid tearing out her hair by imagining what Clint would have for her when she got home. Which song, that is, although it would be a lie to say she hadn't imagined a rendezvous as well.

She opened the door slowly, trying to listen for his footsteps. He was, however, sitting on a stool in front of the couch. "Hey girl," he said, smiling.

"Hey, boy."

"Sit, sit!" She situated herself on the couch and crossed her arms, waiting. He surprised her by reaching behind him and picking up a guitar. "I found it."

"Wow, pulling out the guitar and everything."

"Yup. This is the one."

"Hit me."

Clint grinned and plucked the strings a couple times, checking that it was still in tune.

_"When the dragons grow too mighty_  
_To slay with pen or sword_  
_I grow weary of the battle_  
_And the storm I walk toward_  
_When all around is madness_  
_And there's no safe port in view_  
_I long to turn my path homeward_  
_To stop a while with you_

_When life becomes as barren_  
_And as cold as winter skies_  
_There's a beacon in the darkness_  
_In a distant pair of eyes_  
_In vain to search for honor_  
_And in vain to search for truth_  
_But these things can still be given_  
_Your love has shown me proof."_

Natasha nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, that's it. I don't recognize…what is it?"

"It's a Rush song," Clint said, setting down the guitar and finding a place next to her. "'Madrigal'."

"It's beautiful. You're beautiful."

"No, you." Clint pushed her down and kissed all over her face. "I can be romantic, see?"

Natasha giggled, clasping her hands behind his back. "I never doubted you, darling."

There was a frantic pounding on the door just then, followed by "Let us in, let us in!" Nat, recognizing Darcy's voice, ordered JARVIS to open the door, and Sif and Darcy, both stark naked and covered in sweat, fell in, slamming the door behind them. The door rattled as something crashed into it. An angry roar sounded from behind the door, followed by Fandral saying, "Come on, darling, it wasn't that bad, you've got to let it go, I'm sure Darcy didn't mean any harm, and really, isn't it a bit cheap to go after the ladies while they're, you know, engaged in—Stop it. You stop it. I'll sulk. I will. For days. You know I can. Stop with the panther act, Loki. Please?"

Natasha and Clint determinedly stared at the women in the eyes. "So," Clint said pleasantly, "can I offer you ladies a drink or anything?"


End file.
